Discrimination just existing is probably far too broad a concept. I'd probably like to narrow it down a bit, something like "Do you believe there is widespread and overwhelming racial discrimination?" and (if no), "Do you believe that there's some smaller amount?". I mean, at least some small percentage of people are going to behave in a racially discriminatory manor, but how bad do black people think it really is?

What a fabulously useless question. Discrimination against anyone for any number of reasons obviously exists. I am not sure I know anyone who believes that "discrimination" or "racism" does not exist. It obviously does and to argue that point is a straw man. The question is always to what degree. And those on what you may call the race realist position generally argue that discrimination/racism is not the primary cause of black underachievement. How, for example, does discrimination against black people account for the fact that black men commit almost half the homicides in the country (overwhelmingly against black men)?

I was under by 2%. I got my estimate by remembering that roughly 10% of people will answer a poll with the least plausible answer--whether its "discrimination doesn't exist" or "Hillary Clinton was kidnapped by an alien" or "Trump actually shot a man on 5th Avenue just to watch him die and people still voted for him" or whatever.

The NPR article launches immediately into an explanation of why the deluded [X]% think they aren't being discriminated against. "One of the paradoxes of racial discrimination is the way it can remain obscured even to the people to whom it's happening."

The NPR article launches immediately into an explanation of why the deluded [X]% think they aren't being discriminated against. "One of the paradoxes of racial discrimination is the way it can remain obscured even to the people to whom it's happening."

Similarly, one of the paradoxes of the Earth being controlled by lizardmen is the lizardmen can shapeshift to disguise themselves and therefore be obscure to the people to whom they're controlling!

That's an odd question - I don't think that any reasonable person (of any color) would say that it does not exist *at all.* (So I, assuming that the professor had read it the same way, guessed 94%, on the assumption that she would have said 100 or something very close to it).

I'd be interested to see the percentage saying that it exists and is a substantial problem for most black people's day to day lives.

Underestimated by 2%. When will NPR run one that asks how many Latinos, people of European descent, and people of Asian descent think that blacks are discriminated against? Or should I not hold my breath?

NPR was hawking this story this morning on the radio. What a crock! Hey, we're doing a poll; do you think bad thoughts exist? Especially toward people in your demographic, which, I gotta say, has seen some bad stuff coming down from those white folks, if you know what I mean.

Imagine if these sorts of polls were actually conducted with the goal of being honest and objective rather than trying to push an agenda. Imagine all the good that could be accomplished if more people behaved in good faith.

I was under by 1%, but as others have said, the question is meaningless. I'm a visible minority (of Indian ancestry), and I believe some discrimination exists against Asians. But if asked how much has it impacted my financial and social achievement in a negative way, I'd say not very much at all. For the most part, its a non-issue.

I have been told by my white friends that I have an advantage in many cases. I'm less likely to be (falsely) accused of racism than they are, which I suspect is largely true.

Mark Twain reportedly said (with attribution to Benjamin Disraeli):"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics". Twain also reportedly said: "Facts are stubborn things but statistics are pliable". Whenever I see a number, used to justify a public opinion, a policy approach or a business strategy my first impulse is to disbelieve the number and question the purpose behind deploying that number. In regards to NPR, for me based on their failure to correctly predict Trump's win last year, any statistic they use to explain and/or justify any opinion they publish must be peremptorily disbelieved. I have more faith in the truth of fortune cookie sayings than any statistic coming out of NPR or all of Washington DC for that matter.

I guessed 83%, off by 9%. But as others note, it is almost meaningless--it is a question about perceived discrimination, not actual discrimination, and "discrimination" is not well-defined.

I found it interesting that when comparing higher and lower income people, the higher income ones perceived more discrimination. The authors then twist themselves into knots trying to explain this, but I prefer a more direct route: the upper-income whites with whom they associate are in fact VERY class-biased, and almost all racial bias in today's US is actually based on class and assumptions about it. Nobody, and I mean NOBODY, talks about racial inferiority on a genetic basis, that went out decades ago. It's all about class and culture. And the upper- and upper-middle class whites who look down on working and lower class whites have similar feelings about blacks (and Hispanics and Native Americans if they encounter any), whom they assume are from lower-class roots even if now in a higher-level job.

Whereas in the lower-income groups, whites and blacks tend to see each other as coming from more similar backgrounds and better understand each others' attitudes and problems. They know the history and approach each other a bit warily, but in their day-to-day interactions there is not so much to misunderstand about each other.

Ha! I was going to put over 90%, but I went down because I thought there must be a trick. "Why would they have this if the number is going to be what one expects?" Ended up twelve points off. Don't overthink things.

A footnote below one of the graphs says that the "Don't know/refused to answer" responses are not factored into the graph percentages.

From the Methodology Section, this specific report was on 802 African-American respondents, pulled from an overall sample of 3,453 "nationally representative Latinos, African Americans, Asian Americans, and Native Americans, as well as white Americans; men and women, and LGBTQ adults", obtained by random dialing. They did not list percentages of successful interviews, or list percentages of interviews per area code.

So either their random survey by accident sampled nationally representative populations, or they culled results to achieve nationally representative populations. Or, more generously, whoever wrote that section was unable to articulate exactly what was done.

I think Gahrie's point makes it clear that this is a bogus survey. Blacks and other minorities from all over the world are doing their damndest to get to this country to live and work. If discrimination were really that bad wouldn't the AA's take the same advantage and head to other ports they deemed more friendly?

"If discrimination were really that bad wouldn't the AA's take the same advantage and head to other ports they deemed more friendly?"

-- They may not think any other ports are more friendly, or the benefits of America STILL outweighs the possibility of being a victim of institutional racism (such as reuniting with family, opportunities, etc.)

There's a bit in LeGuin's "Left Hand of Darkness" where a monk tells the protagonist about "the perfect uselessness of knowing the answer to the wrong question." (quote from memory).Anyway, this survey works fine for the surveyors: "See! Here's real data that shows that, no matter what honky America thinks, the POC (the only ones who can actually know), know that discrimination is a horrible problem."

Fred: That's an unfair assumption though. The question was just "does it exist?"

If there's one racist jerk in the country, it still exists, even the rest of the country is an egalitarian utopia. The question doesn't get into scale or impact of racism. So, I fail to see the point of the question since, all it tells me, is anyone who answered "racism doesn't exist" is an even bigger Positive Percy than I am.

Hello, thank you for your time.Who are you?Thank you for asking. I'm conducting a poll. Are you African-American?[click]Hello, thank you for answering.Who are you?Thank you for asking. I'm conducting a poll.[click]Hello, thank you for answering.What do you want?I'm asking questions on behalf of Harvard University. Perhaps you've heard of it.I have.My first question is: are you African-American?[click]

When I was in college we had a racial hate-crime hoax. The fellow spray-painting slurs on the house of the Black Student Union turned out to be, well, black.

The reporter for whichever newspaper got from the college a list of all the black students in the college (hmm), and started calling them alphabetically. No comment, no comment, no comment. Then he got to a fellow who happened to be a friend of mine (last name S...): "Oh, I would love to talk to you." What followed was a wide-ranging philippic culminating in an angry, "And if you can't call a black fool a fool, then YOU are the racist!"

Not much of his rant made the paper, but he got his name in the article, plus some catharsis.

NPR: all left-leaning clerisy propaganda, all the time. Pretty much every feature designed to promote lefty groupthink.

I enjoy Althouse throwing us red meat from the various house organs of the "progressive"/rent-seeker axis fairly regularly.

Maybe she could toss out some stuff from, oh, I don't know, say The Federalist or the Manhattan Contrarian from time to time. Places where thoughtful and powerful analyses from a conservative viewpoint are regularly featured.

Be nice to see if such things acted as red meat from ARM, Inga, LLRs, et al.

When black women go out with bizarre clothing or looking like hookers, they may not get a great reception--of course some of them look great. Also their attitude can really suck. They may start yelling at clerks over stuff that is their mistake (not allowed to return clothing that isn't even from that store) and will then be treated badly. Black men can give off a very dangerous vibe, have tattoos, and have pants hanging down. Somehow, people don't respond well to that.If there is a 10% discrimination cost, the cost of not finishing school, having an attitude, not showing up for work on time, looking like hell is probably 30%. I have known successful black men and women and they don't give much thought to discrimination at all.

I was way off the particular question and answer, but much closer to the further analysis of percentage to claim personal experience with being discriminated against.

As others noted above, the question of discrimination existing at all should be 100%, as I can say whites are discriminated and point to the grad student that admitted to calling on white people last (the progressive order). Indeed, NPR also reports: "Majority Of White Americans Say They Believe Whites Face Discrimination"

'"Lies, damned lies, and statistics" is a phrase describing the persuasive power of numbers, particularly the use of statistics to bolster weak arguments. It is also sometimes colloquially used to doubt statistics used to prove an opponent's point.'

'The earliest instance of the phrase found in print dates to a letter written in the British newspaper National Observer on June 8, 1891, published June 13, 1891, p. 93(-94): NATIONAL PENSIONS [To the Editor of The National Observer] London, 8 June 1891 "Sir, —It has been wittily remarked that there are three kinds of falsehood: the first is a 'fib,' the second is a downright lie, and the third and most aggravated is statistics. It is on statistics and on the absence of statistics that the advocate of national pensions relies…"'

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lies,_damned_lies,_and_statistics

It's a competence in math thing...which is now politically incorrect:

White privilege bolstered by teaching math, university professor says

'A math education professor at the University of Illinois says the ability to solve geometry and algebra problems and teaching such subjects perpetuates so-called white privilege.

Rochelle Gutierrez laid out her views on the subject in an article for a newly published anthology for math educators titled, “Building Support for Scholarly Practices in Mathematics Methods.”

“School mathematics curricula emphasizing terms like Pythagorean Theorem and pi perpetuate a perception that mathematics was largely developed by Greeks and other Europeans," she says, according to Campus Reform.

She also says that addressing equity in mathematics education will come when teachers can understand and negotiate the politics outside the classroom.

“On many levels, mathematics itself operates as whiteness. Who gets credit for doing and developing mathematics, who is capable in mathematics, and who is seen as part of the mathematical community is generally viewed as white,” she writes.

Further, she says mathematics operates with unearned privilege in society, “just like whiteness.”'

I disagree slightly with curious George, which i dont often do. i accept 90% of any subset would say Yes to whether they BELIEVE they face discrimination. It is a question asking about Belief, to which a respondent will say Yes because that includes (a) true victims of a real individualized act or (b) those who, out of logic, recognize all Americans, unless they live alone in the woods, face discrimination, because that is what people do to one another. I dont get why it isnt 100%.

Ask the Question to anyone. Women. Koreans. Samoans. South Samoans. People who pray to ---- or the people who pray to the other one. Military vets. Idahoans who move to NYC. Non-Harvard grads. The old. The young.

The world is a marketplace. Life is inherently unfair and unequal. Thinking otherwise is unicornland. And while there is sufficient evidence that some - on an individual level - have specific types of discrimination from specific individuals done unjustly onto them, the thesis of us achieving a System of Equality by identifying How XX% proves How Bad the System Really Is, is moreoften than not a false front for people who believe in Equality as long as They are in Charge of the Shootings.

1648. 1898. 1946. 2017. 2276. Keep asking, you will find your answer. Asking such a Question reminds me of the recurring one in Shawshank: "You have served x years. Do you believe you have been rehabilitated?" Well lets see now..........

Heck, anti-Catholicism exists in the country. I've run into it. No, at no time did it make me feel particularly uncomfortable and I absolutely do not believe it was ever a barrier to me personally or professionally.

With the progress of institutional diversity, it should be 100%-1%, if only because a deplorable man or woman cannot know when they have been denied an education, a job, or other opportunity, because they have fallen outside the congruence diversity quota, and the traditional civil rights organizations are too busy chasing black holes and mythical storks to help.

My brainwashed 1%er Chinese American friend thinks Chinese Americans are discriminated against even thought he doesn't know Anyone who has experienced discrimination. Because Trump. No kidding. He didn't use to think that. TDS.

Matthew Sablan: The point I was making with my snark about "data" was that the survey results will certainly be misused to claim that "horribleness" of discrimination, rather than mere existence.Of course the actual survey question, viewed logically, is utterly useless, so i predict the only media use of the results will be via some distortion of the "question".

The main problem facing blacks are twofold: (a) high drop out rate of high school (near 50% in Oakland public schools) and (2) raising kids without fathers (80% rate of out-of-wedlock births)

Chicken and egg situation, (a) is largely caused by (2) (and why didn't you use 1 and 2 or A and B?) But in a modern society, once (a) becomes large enough, it starts reinforcing (2). Doing family research I have a lot of ancestral relatives with an 8th grade education or less who were quite successful in life, married, with children. No HS diploma today, and you're SOL for just about every job with high earning potential and promotion possibilities.

Without the diploma of GED, it's virtually impossible to get into the old employer of last resort, Army, Navy or Marines.

I guessed 98% and over-estimated by a bit. But it is a foolish question. Of course it exists. As long as one person discriminates then discrimination exists. So the 8% of black people that didn't say yes were obviously not thinking very clearly. But the real question is how much of a problem is it. That would have been a much more useful question to have a dialog about.